www.insideselfstorage.com INSIDE: • Opportunities in Greater China • Lessons learned in Hong Kong • Market maturation in France • Small-operator dominance in Spain • Expansion in Uruguay • Investor interest in Australia INTERNATIONAL CONQUERING the Globe Investors and owners make STRATEGIC MOVES in markets worldwide THE KEY TO SUCCESS in any self-storage market is knowledge! Learn what you need to succeed in the business at www.insideselfstoragestore.com. Fall 2015 $15.00 US ISS I 2015 International 2 www.insideselfstorage.com A new online environment that will revolutionize the way buyers fi nd and source self-storage solutions. VENDOR LOCATOR HIGHLIGHTS: fi nd and connect with vendors and solutions Easy-to-use tool ALL YEAR LONG ISS is pleased to introduce its new Vendor Locator, an online market for industry products, services and suppliers. Think of it as a place where you can fi nd the things you need to effectively run your business—at any time of year. You can learn about individual companies, watch Search by Company Name, their videos, download their resource materials, and even Product/Service or Location send them messages, all through the online portal. It’s an around-the-clock research and shopping experience. Please check back often, as we’ll be adding new features and functionality as well as many more company pages to this online marketplace. Access vendor Contact Info, Products and Services, Whitepapers, Case Studies, EXPLORE NOW and more locator.insideselfstorage.com ISS I 2015 International 3 www.insideselfstorage.com 56655-ISS115-VendorLocator-FP.indd 1 9/21/2015 10:02:53 AM INSIDE SELF-STORAGE INTERNATIONAL | FALL 2015 FEATURES 6 Self-Storage Continues to Mature in France In France, the industry is growing at an annual rate of about 15 percent. An operator with 15 facilities in the country offers insight on development trends, operational challenges and more. By Philippe Peyrot 9 Small Operators Lead Industry Growth in Spain The growth of the industry in Spain is originating from local entrepreneurs. Carles Jover, owner of Costabrava Space, shares insight on the market and his company’s future plans. 12 Developing the Business in Russia Self-storage is growing in Russia, but at a sluggish pace. An operator talks about barriers to entry and obstacles to meeting customer demand. By Tatiana Kolyuchkina 14 Industry Health in the United Kingdom Safestore, one of the country’s largest operators, keeps its finger on the pulse of the industry, discussing common challenges, finances and where things might be headed. By the Safestore Marketing Team 17 A New Vision in Uruguay Although versions of self-storage have existed in the country for some time, the industry is shifting to follow the U.S. model. Here’s how one operator is embracing this approach. By Julián Valdés 19 The Economic Crisis in Brazil The Brazilian industry has experienced rapid growth, but the economic downturn could slow its progress. Read how the financial crisis is affecting existing operations and new development. By David Blum 22 Assessing Opportunities in Greater China Research shows self-storage has firmly arrived in this region. See how success in Hong Kong is spurring development on the Mainland and in Taiwan. By Samson Lam and Markus Scherer 25 Building on Failure in Hong Kong Opening a storage business in an international market has many potential pitfalls, but success is highly rewarding. MiniCo Self-Storage shares the lessons it learned in Hong Kong. By Marilyn Leslie 29 Big Growth and Investor Interest Imminent for Australia The Australian market is about to see its biggest surge in new facility development in more than 10 years. Here’s a look at the three major players and their planned activity. By Sam Kennards 32 CONTACTS Copyright © 2015 Informa Exhibitions LLC. All rights reserved. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising or editorial material. Advertisers, and/or their agents, assume the responsibility for all content of published advertisements and assume responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on the advertisement. Editorial contributors assume responsibility for their published works and assume responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on the published work. Editorial content may not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Materials contained on this site may not be reproduced, modified, distributed, republished or hosted (either directly or by linking) without our prior written permission. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of content. You may, however, download material from the site (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only. We reserve all rights in and title to all material downloaded. All items submitted to Inside Self-Storage become the sole property of Informa Exhibitions LLC. ISS I 2015 International 4 www.insideselfstorage.com Electronic Lock/Overlock/Monitor for Roll-up Doors 1 The Janus International SecurGuard Electronic Lock/Overlock/Monitor product provides a secure interior (inside-the-door) electronic lock, automated overlocking, and continuously monitored security and access control to your individual self storage units. The locking solution integrates seamlessly with PTI Security Systems industry leading access control and security solutions. The SecurGuard Electronic Lock/Overlock/Monitor for Roll-up Doors is designed to: » Provide additional security and access control to both occupied and vacant units » Automate the overlocking (restrict and grant access) process » Continuous monitoring of the lock (unlocked/locked) and door status (opened/closed) » Supports Online, Call Center & Rental Station (Kiosk) Rentals2 » Allow for unattended facility operations2 Come visit us at JRT2015! Consult. Create. Construct. That’s the Janus advantage. Costa Mesa, CA | December 3-4 [email protected] Call 866.562.2580 or email [email protected] for more information. www.JanusIntl.com 1US patent 8,789,859. Other US and Intl patents pending. 2Dependent on self storage rental management software. ISS I 2015 International 5 www.insideselfstorage.com Self-Storage Continues to Mature in FRANCE Annexx offers insight on industry growth Annexx opened this facility in Lyon, France, in 2013. By Philippe Peyrot of income with 5,000 to 10,000 net rentable square feet of self-storage. They’re usually logisticians, rance is one of the most dynamic self-storage movers or merchants. markets in Europe. While most facility Another type of franchise is one in which someone development stopped in England from 2009 to with an empty building decided to create his job F and a revenue stream to pay the land tax. Few 2013, it kept growing in France at a rate of 15 percent annually. It’s a young industry that really began in the of these franchisees enter the business without late 1990s with the arrival of Shurgard Self-Storage. already owning or renting a building. However, During its initial years, the market was developed by the vast majority of these conversion stores are in large operators who built big stores averaging 40,000 poor locations. net rentable square feet. For my self-storage operation, Annexx, which Around 2006, two phenomena occurred. First, operates 15 facilities in France, the answer to this several large self-storage operators merged. Second, new competition is to provide customers with the more small entrepreneurs looked into the business cleanest, most attractive and secure facilities. and began to convert buildings that had an average Every unit has an alarm, and all properties feature of 10,000 net rentable square feet. an onsite manager. Our facilities are on high-traffic, Today, there are 437 storage facilities in France high-visibility roads. Our staff is friendly, and we train comprising 9.2 million square feet of space and them year-round. 139,000 units. The four largest companies own 45 percent of the facilities, with 68 percent of the Challenges to Growth rentable square feet developed. At Annexx, we can’t say we’ve had to suffer from the slow economy. Rather, it’s been balanced by the The Franchisee Model growth of awareness in self-storage. In the last six Most recently, a new type of storage business years, we grew 15 to 20 percent annually. has emerged: the franchise. Twenty percent of the Self-storage developers in France, Annexx facilities in France are franchisees, and six companies included, face a number of challenges to opening now offer a franchise to novice entrepreneurs. They new stores. Finding the right piece of land for new mainly attract people who already have a business construction takes time. We’re in contact with and floor space and want to create a second source hundreds of land owners, so we’re there when they’re ISS I 2015 International 6 www.insideselfstorage.com Annexx in Bordeaux, France ready to sell. It took us eight to 10 years to close the Google has a 90 percent market share in search deal on two of our new stores, which will open in the engines in France. Google AdWords is a great way coming months. They were worth the wait to get leads, but the investment increases because they’re in perfect locations. every year. Our biggest challenge is everything As the storage industry in France is slow—slow economy, slow continues to mature, Annexx will increase in product awareness, grow along with it. The company slow decision-making from is no longer considered just lenders. But it’s also our a “southwest of France” chance as a small company self-storage operator. to have a smooth Our biggest challenge We’ve left Bordeaux and development in front of Toulouse and opened deep-pocket operators. is everything is stores in Lyon, Marseille, Because, as we say in Montpellier and Nantes. France, “You can’t go slow—slow economy, Our plan is to become faster than the music.” a true national operator Today, only 20 percent slow increase in with facilities in all of of the French outside the largest French cities, of Paris are aware of the product awareness, including Paris.